My journey began on a playdate with a mother of a boy in my son’s preschool class last spring. We were sitting in her kitchen getting to know each other in the usual way, telling our stories of how we met our husbands, what brought us to Charlotte, having our kids and how we “had to get ourselves back in shape somehow”

She began telling me about this boot camp that she attended and how much she loved it. She told me she was semi-possessive of it, loving it so much that she struggled with wanting to shout it from the roof tops or tell no one so her perfect little world wouldn’t be disturbed.

I already knew she was a very healthy eater, the tales of salmon and avocado in her two year old’s lunch at preschool were legendary next to our gummies and goldfish…

She was explaining it to me and then told me briefly about a program she followed called Whole 30. She asked me if I had ever heard of it, and it I knew about clean eating…

If you mean cleaning my plate eating, then “yes! I know all about it.” I had a favorite meal deal at every fast food place you could think of. My breakfast was anything I could grab or whatever one of my four kids didn’t finish. Lunch was much the same story and dinner was pretty well rounded though far from “clean”. I was not even close to a clean eater, I was a terrible eater!

My new friend convinced me to join her one morning at 6am in the dark and put my body through a shock it had seldom experienced. But she also introduced me to about six women that changed my life- two in particular!

Why I went back, I don’t know… Something about these women appealed to me and I was very ready for a change. And on that day in April I too became strangely possessive of Four Fit’s boot camp and people. At the beginning of boot camp you meet with Stephanie and Kathryn to discuss your goals and they, in turn, help you shape a plan to help you meet those goals.

Mine were no different than most women with kids and 40 approaching rapidly- to get in shape and lose weight. They again brought up Whole 30, but explained the science behind it as well- That peaked my curiosity, written by people with auto immune diseases, this interested me as both a nurse and someone with a significant history of Crohn’s disease.

I went home and purchased the book, “It Starts With Food.” Which outlines the Whole 30 program, the science and plenty of references. I proceeded to read it very quickly and was hooked.

Both of my parents were deceased by the time I was 34. I have a personal and family medical history that would make most doctors faint. While my family wasn’t completely non-compliant with their personal and medical care they, like most of us, did have their flaws. While I am truly a stronger and better person for the lessons I have learned from my years of struggle these are not lessons I want my children to learn. There are easier and better ways to be a kind, good and healthier person without so much heartache and pain, but I am the one who had to take control of that.

I did want to lose weight, but I wanted to become healthier and be around for my children’s children.

I’ve tried them all, the cabbage soup diet, weight watchers, south beach, Atkins… you name it. They worked but always end the same way- back at the start. Whole 30 was different

I loved the way it starts:

“It’s only 30 days.” I thought about how many things last longer than 30 days and how much harder they are then not eating something. I thought about other things they say like “ it’s not cancer, its changing your eating,” or “your sister’s wedding is not going to be ruined if YOU don’t eat a piece of cake,” and, “make sure you look at your life before you start and realize if it’s the right time for you,” also, “don’t sabotage yourself before you start” – Dallas and Melissa Hartwig, “It Starts With Food.”

It really also occurred to me about how much eating can be about peer/social pressure. Other people may want you to eat the cake because they feel bad about eating the cake, so if you EATthe cake, they won’t feel so bad. So much in our life is peer pressure even as adults. I decided to take control of my decisions and just try it. I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t easy at the beginning I hit my wall around day 8-10, but after day 10 I turned a corner I will never go back around.

Here I am 9 months later, 40 pounds lighter and healthier than I’ve been since I was 18. My daily headaches are gone, joint aches- gone, exhaustion- better ( I do have four kids under 8) my stomach pains- extremely rare. I still eat “whole 30” because I love the way it makes me feel and I am scared to go back!

This really is a way of life. I’ve become that person I was previously so annoyed by, touting Four Fit and Whole 30 like I am paid to do so. Though even if offered, I would never take any money for what I’ve been given, my life back.

I told Stephanie and Kathryn I felt like that woman in a commercial I saw once who says “I finally look like the person I feel like inside”

I also was so encouraged by the people around me and that is a key point too. One dark morning one of my cohorts was talking as we ran and told me another piece of gold. She said, “I refused to let each age define me, I decided I’m not my best at 20, at 30, at 40… I’m always going to keep trying to be a better me”

Every woman in that first group and each subsequent group has been so positive, so encouraging so supportive and they literally don’t even know me!

We all have excuses, we all work, we all have husbands, kids, families, hair to wash…. But all they really are is excuses. Which in the end is actually really great because if she can do it, than so can I. I do think everyone needs to have their own ah-ha moment but lots of times they are buried under these things we invent. Its like they say “just do it”

Tips on my success:

Supportive people!: You can never have enough people to talk to, encourage you, go through it with you.

Keep it to yourself for the most part: You get a lot of strange looks and comments from people when you tell them about it. Talk to the people who know, and when you feel the effects for yourself and are grounded in it, then you can tell the world. Sometimes when you share your goals they become harder due to others judgments

Realistic goals: If there is something going on that you know is going to interfere, don’t start yet

Read the science behind it: When you read the WHY of it, it makes so much more sense

Don’t cheat!- its only 30 days!!!!! That’s 1/10th of a pregnancy! Many of you have done much harder… i promise.

Read blogs and boards! There are TONS of resources out there for you, people with tricks and tips and solutions you never considered

Just try it, I promise you will like it. Put YOURSELF first, just this once, you won’t regret it.

Looking for an alternative to Peanut Butter? Here it is! I can’t rave enough about how good this is. Even the toddler kept coming up to me as I was making it saying, ‘num-num’.

It was easy-peasy in the kitchen and SO much cheaper to make myself. It almost makes me want to shake my finger at all those companies charging outrageous prices. I saw a nut butter going for 21.oo at whole foods the other day. seriously.

I bought these pecans in bulk at Costco for 15.00 per 2 lb. I used about 1/3 of the bag (3 cups) so my tub of pecan butter cost me roughly 5.00$.

You’ve probably heard it said, ‘you can’t outperform your nutrition.’ But what exactly does that mean? Everywhere we look these days there is some message that promises to be better than the next in the nutrition aisle….Vegan, Paleo, Gluten Free, Juicing, Smoothies, 21 Day Cleanses and then there’s the Everything-In-Moderation crowd. Who’s right? And more importantly, how much does choosing the right food really matter?

SO in one short blog post… I have the answer!

It Depends.

It depends on a multitude of factors and all of them add up to the total sum of you.

There are many very legitimate medical conditions that may warrant one type of eating over another. Also culture, preference, and often political/social views come into play when choosing food. Performance in the gym, for endurance training, or just wanting to rock out that wedding dress are also components of why we may have a certain bent toward one way of eating vs. another.

So how do we know which one to choose?

This is simple. Chances are, if you are exactly where you want to be physically and emotionally when it comes to performance, body composition and health then you know exactly which type of diet and food choices are right for you. Keep on keepin on.

If you are in a different camp then you have to some homework to do.

1. Stop, Collaborate and Listen

Really assess your goals, your total health and your nutrition choices and ask yourself in a completely honest way how much do you really want x , then adjust accordingly. Also reflect on the feasibility to maintain these changes long term.

2. Armed to the Teeth

Arm yourself with knowledge. This is two tiered. Asking that trainer at the gym with the nice guns to tell you how to eat may or may not be the best plan of attack. What you need is knowledge about you: your body, your life, your goals and the changes you are willing to make.

Doing a short term elimination diet is simply the best way to get information about Y-O-U. Forget the hype, the jargon, the whatever and test yourself. Eliminating all potentially problematic foods, giving your body a fighting chance to respond (enough time) and then reintroducing is a fabulous way to assess your nutritional choices and how they affect you both physically and emotionally. Whether you are Vegan, Vegetarian or Omnivorous taking 30 days or so to educate yourself on your nutrition will pay off in spades. A favorite of ours at Four-Fit is the Whole 30, great (and free!) program to help you navigate elimination. They have guidelines on how to be successful if you are a Veg-Head too and tips on optimizing nutrition while in the midst of your nutritional self-education.

And at the end of all of this if you are still just as confused as before you started here are a couple of things that ring true across ALL of these ‘diets’.

1. None of them suggest that anything that comes in a package is healthier than something natural.

2. None of them have ever proven that an increased sugar intake is good for your health, wellness or performance (read labels.)

3. With any kind of diet, excess consumption vs. energy output will weigh you down. 100% of the time.

4. And last but not least. If it’s not sustainable, makes you miserable, or just seems down right unnatural to you…. then it is not. going. to. work. Not in the long term.

If you are considering making changes but need camaraderie, support, accountability and game plan along the way, check out our Online Training Program! We would love to embark on your journey with you.

So it’s January. And if you are anything like me, you are happily leaving December behind with all of its (wonderful) holiday feasting and looking to clean it up in the new year. For many of us the new year brings a sense of new opportunity for achieving healthy behaviors. Read more about realistic behavior change and how to successfully knock out those resolutions here.

If it’s diet (read the way you eat) that you’re looking to modify or just tighten down, here are a few tips to get you moving in the right direction.

Make the Rules

Decide exactly what you want to do or change and be specific. Identifying that you want to eat better is great! It just doesn’t always hold up under pressure. Hunger + Break Room Donuts = Derailment. If you are doing a specific diet (ie. Mediterranean, Weight Watchers, Whole 30) the parameters are laid out for you. If you are trailblazing, go ahead and make yourself a map. Say: when, where and how much you will tighten down or modify.

Shop Til You Drop

Once you’ve staked your claim on the road ahead, make a list of foods that you will have for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks and go get em! Having all of your food on hand will make your healthy eating efforts not only a possibility but a reality.

Plan on it

Even if you are not a planner, plan. Pulling tomorrow night’s dinner out of the freezer today will make dialing 716-PIZZA after work a lot less likely. The same is true for snacks, stashing a snack for when a meeting runs long is a fool proof plan. As the saying goes, an apple-a-day keeps vending machines away.

Stay Hydrated

Thirst sometimes masquerades as hunger. To know the difference, drink a cup of water first and if you’re satiated, problem solved. If hunger persists, you’ll know it’s the real deal.

Buddy up

Having a friend in your foxhole is never a bad idea, particularly when you are battling the sugar demons. Being accountable for your choices or just having someone to commiserate with and celebrate your successes goes a long way in supporting your efforts and ultimately achieving your goal.

Remember that even small improvements count toward creating a healthier, happier you! Even if you aren’t looking to completely overhaul your nutrition patterns in the new year, small choices and behavior changes can often have long term benefits and significant health gains.

This post is a little like Christmas music at Thanksgiving, I know. Reminding us of what’s to come and lighting that little fire under our already sprinting heels.

This is the time of year that friends, family, food, time off, travel and general year end madness hijacks our normal day-to-day and leaves us aching for routine and revision in the New Year. Which makes the birth of New Year’s Resolutions so timely (and so doomed).

According to a 2012 Study in Journal of Clinical Psychology, approximately 50% of us in the United States will attempt to achieve a self imposed New Year’s resolution, while only a whopping 8% of us manage to successfully achieve these resolutions. You can read the synopsis here.

Most resolutions involve behavior modification (healthy eating, exercise and smoking cessation are the top 3) and if you’ve ever attempted any one of the three you know that motivation and excitement wear off somewhere around noon. What gives?

Now for the good news….this research also shows that those of us who bother to actually set New Year’s resolutions are 10 times more likely to achieve our personal goals than folks who don’t explicitly set them. So in sum, there is power in the promise.

The question remains, why do SO MANY of us who are clearly ready for behavioral change still not manage to sustain these things that we really, really want? Most behavioral psychologists believe that permanent change requires a shift or re-wiring of the way our brain responds to circumstance or stimulus. Behavior and neurological response is so much stronger than just ‘trying not to do’ something or ‘trying to do’ better. Our ‘ought to’ conscious thought is simply a weenie when it buts up against ingrained and powerful habits.

This is where goal setting comes in. Goal Setting Theory is widely used and recognized as an important and effective way of achieving and maintaining behavior change.

Goals are good. Without them I suspect I might never have: potty trained, graduated from high school, gotten a job, or run a marathon. Some goals are set for us, by our parents, society or others and some are set by us. On our terms, for our benefit. Because we want to enjoy life and longevity. Because we said so.

Knowing where we want to go is half the battle. Planning and proper care to get there is the other. Here are some tried and true methods for helping that nebulous resolution turn into a thing of attainable specificity.

A ‘Good’ goal is a SMART goal:

Specific (who, what, when, where, why etc..)

Measurable (how much, how many, how long, how fast etc..)

Achievable (within reach, then reset to attain larger goals)

Realistic (must be both willing and able to achieve)

Time sensitive. (within a specific time frame)

Set several small SMART goals to help you achieve your long term goal.

Celebrate EACH success and rework your SMART goals as necessary.

Make a Commitment:

Committing to another person, an organization, a friend… anyone, but COMMIT. Having accountability while striving for your goals is paramount in achieving them. It often feels ok to let yourself down (not really) but your sense of loyalty and commitment will help you muscle through.

Recognition–celebrating the milestones and small goals achieved while enroute to that larger goal.

Goal setting is a wonderful tool to make real and lasting changes in life. It is a skill and practice that is widely used professionally yet difficult to master in the personal realm. At least once in life everyone needs a little support setting health and wellness goals and some encouragement along the way. If 2014 holds big things for you and you’d like a little support, we’d be honored. Check out all of Four-Fit’s Programming that focuses on goal setting here.

Well it’s among us, the most wonderful time of the year… or so the saying goes. Whether the holidays are loved or loathed in your house there is no avoiding the onslaught of holiday festivities. From bowls of Halloween candy at work to the last toast on New Years, we are all bound to bump up against the holiday bustle and less-than-stellar nutritional opportunities. To help navigate these happy but hairy holidays we’ve put together a short list of successful strategies for (attempting) to stay Healthy Through the Holidays.

Relax Already

Inherent to the holidays is stress. Take a few moments to relax. Breathe. Get a massage. A pedicure. A night out to watch the game. Whatever. Just DO it. And remember these months roll around once a year, so don’t overthink it. Cortisol and Adrenaline are two stress hormones that can suppress the immune system and put us at risk for catching Uncle Eddie’s crud, so take the time and relax already.

Indulge (just a little bit)

It’s ok to loosen the belt a little during the holiday season. If you are generally a stickler to healthy eating, give yourself permission to enjoy those once-in-a-while treats from grandma or dad’s fried turkey. Occasional indulgence won’t derail the train , but OVERindulgence will. Enjoy, then hop back on the track. Not stressing out about every single thing that goes into your mouth will also help you relax already.

Exercise! Exercise! Exercise!

Even if you are traveling for the holidays don’t let that stop you. Exercise will decrease stress hormones, increase metabolic rate, improve sleep, improve immune function (both B and Tcell) and generally just make you feel better! If you are looking for things to do while the gym is closed or traveling, check out this awesome list.

Sleep It Off

Getting the recommended 7-9 hours each night will significantly improve your health. A good night’s sleep (on a regular basis) improves immune function, controls appetite, improves brain function and decreases your risk for many chronic diseases such as: hypertension, diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease. Being well rested will set the stage for all of your healthy strategies through the holidays. For more information on sleep, check out the National Sleep Foundation.

Make a Plan

Knowing exactly when and how you are going to relax, indulge, exercise and get to bed will significantly improve your chances of doing so. Even if you are a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kinda gal (holla), setting a flexible goal of a 10 pm bedtime or setting up a run date with your high school bestie will make it much more likely that you are going to stick to your guns for being healthy. Mentally strategizing the Thanksgiving buffet (ex: I will have 2 glasses of water for every one glass of wine) will give you a trail map for how, when and how much off-roading you’ll be doing.

I can’t tell you how many times I have fed this lovely vegetable to a sworn okra Hater, and watched them eat their words. Grilling takes this often overlooked southern veggie to a new level. It minimizes the stringy-ness (the characteristic that gets the most complaints) and really highlights the flavor. My nine-year-old thinks they’re better than french fries. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1:

Soak Wooden Skewers in Water for 15 minutes. Then spear okra through skewer horizontally. It’s so easy even a nine-year-old with her eyes crossed and tongue sticking out can do it.

Concentration

Step 2: Lay out on tray and brush both sides with Olive Oil. Salt.

yum

Step 3: Place directly on grill. Rotate both sides until lightly blackened. It should look like this: